The Yas Marina Circuit has gained quite a lot of popularity for its community activities, such as go-karting, riding, driving, and drifting experiences. Among these, the car drifting experiences of Yas Marina Circuit can be experienced by participants in several ways. These include drift racing on the F1 track, passenger drift experiences, and drift nights. The F1 Abu Dhabi GP circuit also has several track configurations for all of their car drifting experiences. All these experiences differ in terms of the track configurations, the cars, and the overall type of activity.

The Car Drifting Experiences of Yas Marina Circuit

1. The Yas Drift Night
The Yas Drift Night is an experience in which participants get to sharpen their skills at drifting and drift racing. For this experience, the participants are required to bring in their own vehicles to the circuit. Each one of the participants is given a duration of 4 hours on the track. During these 4 hours of track time, the participants can take as many rounds of drifting as they wish. Sports bikes can also be brought in for the Yas Drift Night.

2. The Polaris Drift Sprint
The Polaris Drift Sprint is a driving and drifting experience in which participants get to try sprint racing and drifting together. This experience is conducted with a Polaris RZR RS1, a lightweight sports car. This sports car has been modified specifically to cater to tarmac experiences and drift racing on wet tracks. It is a 1000 cc car with a horsepower of 110 BHP and can go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds. For this experience, the participants get a track time of 10 minutes for head-to-head racing. Participants can enjoy drift racing on the track with their friends or family.

3. Riding the Chevrolet Drift Taxi
The Chevrolet Drift Taxi passenger experience is perfect for people who wish to experience car drifting without taking the wheel. Here, the participants are seated on the passenger seat while a professional drift instructor takes the car for a spin. The car allotted for this experience is the Chevrolet Camaro SS, which has been modified for drifting. The car has a horsepower of 500 BHP, a top speed of 280 km/h, and a 6.2 litre V8 engine. For this experience, the participants will get 2 laps of ride in the Chevrolet Drift Taxi.

Drift Racing at Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit also hosts a drift racing championship called the Emirates Drift Championship. The last season of this championship concluded in March 2022. This racing league features 2 formats for its participants - ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Am’. The ‘Pro Am’ format is for beginners and ‘Pro’ is for skilled drivers. The ‘Pro’ format features races with twin-battle knockouts. For this competition, the participants must bring in their own cars. These cars need to pass a mandatory inspection to be eligible for the race.


The Drift Racing Tracks of Yas Marina Circuit

1. The Vehicle Dynamics Area (VDA)
The Vehicle Dynamics Area of Yas Marina Circuit is a 15,000 square meter asphalt outdoor space. It is 300 meters long and at least 100 meters wide. It also includes a 95 meters by 10 meters skid plate with a skid pad, kick plate, and sprinklers. This track of Yas Marina Circuit is ideal for drifting and can also be hired for test runs of new vehicles. With the addition of sprinklers, the track can be used in dry and wet conditions. Car drifting experiences, such as the Yas Drift Night and the Polaris Drift Sprint, are conducted here. For the Polaris Drift Sprint, the sprinklers of the track are turned on to make it a dynamic wet course. The VDA also serves as the drift racing track for the Emirates Drift Championship of Yas Marina Circuit.

2. The North Handling Track
The North Handling Track of Yas Marina Circuit is a part of its F1 Grand Prix racetrack. It is 950 meters long and at least 10 meters wide. It has 10 corners out of which 7 are left turns and 3 are right turns. The North Handling Circuit also includes the hairpin turn of the racetrack in front of the North Grandstand. Along with the Vehicle Dynamics Area, Yas Drift Night is also conducted on this track. The North Handling Circuit is also the allotted track for the Chevrolet Drift Taxi passenger experience.

The Yas Marina Circuit maintains proper safety and has strict guidelines for all its experiences. All the experiences are conducted in a safe and controlled environment. Safety gear like helmets and balaclavas are mandatory for all drifting and driving experiences, except for the Polaris Drift Sprint. The participants are also briefed on safety before beginning with their experiences. The Circuit also has a strict set of requirements and eligibility criteria that need to be met to participate in these experiences. Detailed information regarding Yas Marina Circuit’s experiences, safety guidelines, requirements, and booking, can be obtained from the official website: https://www.yasmarinacircuit.com/